EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Pile in, because there’s plenty of room in the New York Jets’ clown car.

Join the clever floppy-shoe wearing NFL analysts who screamed of impeding doom, cozy on up next to the genius red-nosed columnists and reporters who predicted a sad, laughable 2012. Elbow aside the legions who wondered if Rex Ryan would ever stop boasting and fiddling with his water-squirting carnation.

And look, stuffed in the back seat is Santonio Holmes, the mouthy receiver who proclaimed a two-headed quarterback system couldn't possibly work, and then later revealed that Mark Sanchez had been rattled by the trade for Tim Tebow. Yes, this vehicle is heavy with buffoons of all persuasions.

The Jets might as well embrace their circus identity, because if Sunday’s season opener is any indication, theirs will be a season that causes eyes to bulge and jaws to hit the turf. They beat the Buffalo Bills 48-28, a score that didn't begin to tell the story of the Bills’ early awfulness, or the Jets’ spectacular revival.

Mostly, historians working the gearshift in the clown car will speak in awe of the obvious communal bro-dom between Sanchez and Tebow. Turns out they can share the field and even the backfield without feelings getting hurt over who gets the ball. All those who predicted Sanchez would wilt into the ground as Tebow hulked over his shoulder should jump directly into the trunk.

Joe Namath will kindly hold it open.

There was one point in the fourth quarter that illustrated vividly how entertaining this autumn might be when Tebow ran out for an onside kick. The Bills had recovered from their dreadfulness — despite Fred Jackson not returning from an injury to his knee, Ryan Fitzpatrick tossing his usual share of interceptions and Mario Williams never showing up — to whittle the Jets’ lead down to 41-28 with 5:58 left in game.

Tebow recovered that onside kick, a fine reminder that for all his mechanical faults, here is a player that succeeds in large part because of his unselfish attitude, his willingness to throw his body into the fiery gullet. Sanchez was the first to greet Tebow as he bounded toward the sidelines, a bright reminder that not only can they co-exist, they maybe, possibly can defy all that we think we know about how modern football offenses are supposed to function.

The relevant, knock-us-over numbers: The Jets set a franchise record for points on opening day, after a preseason where they couldn’t score a free cupcake at a Girl Scouts cookout. In his fourth opener as the Jets’ starting quarterback, as questions about his inner toughness reached fever pitch, Sanchez played angrily, brilliantly, throwing three touchdown passes (19-of-27 for 266 yards), judiciously hitting seven receivers and barely getting dirty behind a no-sack offensive line that was predicted to be oh-so ordinary. (Not to belabor, but did the Bills’ Williams get stuck in traffic? He did emerge afterward to rip the replacement referees for not calling illegal-hands-to-the-face penalties.)

Tebow was in for nine offensive plays, two in the Wildcat, six in the read-option, once at tight end; he had five rushes for 11 yards and didn't throw a single pass. Jets fans never had reason to chew their lips. All told, the super secret Wildcat didn’t exactly set the world on fire, producing only 22 yards.

Tebow’s biggest contribution, besides proving to doubters he could fit in the understudy role, is how he made it clear opponents will have to spend extra time preparing for the unpredictable, which is exactly what the devious Rex Ryan had in mind when he refused to unwrap the Wildcat throughout the wretched preseason.

Ryan being Ryan, he still couldn’t resist the outlandish. The other day he promised he was quitting the guarantee business, but then on Saturday night he told his team they would hang 50 on the Bills. So once again, his guarantee was off, not that anyone cared much.

Coming on the rough heel of last year’s disappointing 8-8 season, when the Jets lost their last three games and disintegrated into a finger-pointing mess that resulted in the marketing-driven trade for Tebow, Ryan deserved to preen just a little. Instead, rather humbly, he refused to taunt his detractors, saying “vindication, chip on our shoulder, maybe that's not the right things.”

Tebow was in the slot on the Jets’ very first offensive play, Sanchez lined up at receiver in the same series and from then on, if the Jets didn’t exactly reinvent high-octane football, they confirmed they could integrate the most popular player in the NFL without ruffling Sanchez’s self-esteem. There can’t be a QB controversy as long as the starter picks apart secondaries like this.

"It looked like we were making up for lost time," said Sanchez, proving that as long as his line allows him time to set his feet, he can still throw a pretty fine ball. "I told the guys in the locker room, 'Remember this, because it took a lot of work to get here.'"

He was terrific on third downs, and when Sanchez did make a mistake — an ill-advised shovel pass to Jeff Cumberland that resulted in an interception — he quickly regained his composure. Never did Fireman Ed and his clones feel the need to chant or huff for Tebow.

"I was thinking we should bench him," Ryan said with a laugh. "I had to take that shot."

So well did Sanchez have the offense clicking, the fans actually booed Tebow in the second quarter when he was stuffed after taking a direct snap, the play fooling nobody. Never will New Yorkers be accused of sitting on their manners.

“It was a fun day. Guys just stepped up and executed as a unit and I’m proud of everyone,” Tebow said.

All across the Jets locker room stood players who wowed under the Big Top. Austin Howard anchored the line that opened up excellent holes for the ground-and-pounders. Stephen Hill had one heck of a rookie debut (five receptions for 89 yards and two TDs). Jeremy Kerley, told over the summer by Ryan to “step it up,” ran through and around the Bills’ defense for a 68-yard punt return touchdown, after his 12-yard TD reception from Sanchez began this eye-opening day.

New York’s defense had the flummoxed Fitzpatrick running from his own shadow. Darrelle Revis, Kyle Wilson and Antonio Cromartie all snagged picks, Cromartie’s coming gift-wrapped via a terrible read by Fitzpatrick that resulted in 40-yard return. Cromartie, a receiver in his dreams, couldn’t resist foolishly styling before he reached the goal line, and then somersaulted into the end zone.

Afterward, Cromartie walked around with a wrap covering his banged up left shoulder. It's not known if he hurt it while showboating, but it wouldn't surprise. The clown car doesn't discriminate.

Revis, after laying out on a fourth-quarter play, accidentally got kicked in the head by his own teammate Bart Scott. The All-Pro cornerback left with a head injury and, per league rules, did not speak with reporters afterward, but some of Revis’ teammates revealed that he told them he was feeling fine.

Meanwhile, Scott, who had promised to devote “absolutely zero percent of my brain matter on worrying about what the hell the offense is doing,” was overheard grumbling to reporters: "I'm not talking to you guys because you treat us like a (bleeping) joke."

And Holmes, the receiver who stopped communicating with Sanchez amid last season’s crumble, grew testy when he was asked an innocuous question. He had four catches for 68 yards but no touchdowns.

So jump on in. There’s nothing wrong with cruising in a clown car, as long as it doesn’t go careening off a cliff.